Torrington Memorial Day essay contest winners announced

By Register Citizen staff

Published
12:00 am EDT, Sunday, June 10, 2018

The Torrington Veterans Support Committee recently announced the winners of the 10th annual Memorial Day Essay Competition. The competition was open to all high school students who reside in Torrington without regard to which school they attend, including home-schooled students.

This year's theme was “Why am I proud to be an American?”

First Place, $100, Jenna L. Lackey, senior, The Buxton School

Second Place, $75, Gregory Aschenbrenner, junior, Torrington High School

Third Place, $50 Joanna Idrovo, junior, Torrington High School

Honorable mention, Julia Tracy, junior, Torrington High School. The Honorable Mention Award is a pen valued at $25.00 that is Handmade by Marine veteran Tony Boucino, owner of As the Wood Turns.

Congratulations to all of the winners.

They were recognized and presented their awards during Torrington's Memorial Day Ceremony which follows the Parade on May 28th.

As the first prize winner, Jenna participated in the Parade, riding in a car arranged for her by the committee.

‘‘Why am I proud to be an American?”

— By Jenna Lynne Lackey

Every morning at roughly 8:30 a.m., I stand and pledge my allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I have each word memorized, and I can repeat it without even trying. I have done this so long that the meaning of the words was lost to me. The value behind each syllable taken. What does it actually mean to have the honor to say these words each and every day? Why have years of repetition blinded not only me, but my fellow classmates and students to its true meaning?

I sat in my room and thought about this. I went over each word in my mind, and admired how powerful the carefully chosen words were. The strength in the statement began to reform in my heart, and a sense of awe set in. How had I never sat down and just thought about the pledge I was making each and every day? I repeated it to myself slowly, feeling each word in my mouth, digesting its meaning.

I began to search for the history of the pledge, in a desire to better understand it. It was created in the late 19th century, as a product of an expansionist. Francis Bellamy, a former pastor of the Boston Baptist Church, was asked to write a ‘patriotic program’ for schools around the country to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in America by ‘raising the U.S. flag over every public school from the Atlantic to the Pacific.”

In just 23 words, Francis Bellamy attempted to capture the ‘underlying spirit’ of the American Republic. Little did he know that he would write his way into the history and future of America by saying: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” In 1923 the words “The Flag of the United States of America” were added, and finally in 1954 Eisenhower encouraged congress to make the final modification, ‘under god’, to create the pledge we see today.

As I learned the meaning of the pledge I make every morning, I began to understand the true reason why I am proud to be an American. The pledge was created to capture the American Spirit, and American Pride. And the sheer fact that I am able to stand in a classroom every day and say those 31 words makes me proud. I am proud to be in a country that allows the growth of its people. I am proud to live in a country where we CAN protest. Where we have multiple political parties, and I can choose which one to represent. I am proud to be an American because it means that I have rights, that my fellow Americans have fought and bled for. I am proud because It means that I am free. I am proud because I now carry the legacy of the greatest country of all time. I am proud because I live in a country that stands for Liberty, and Justice for all.